As white supremacists and neo-Nazis try to infest our communities with hate, it is important to contest their revisionist history. We should take down their symbols, but also examine the untruths taught in our schools about the Civil War.

A renegotiated NAFTA that subordinates the needs of workers will meet the fate of the now-dead Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade deal. The humans in the United States, Canada and Mexico won’t be tricked or trickled down on again.

Movements, not politicians, are driving debate within the Democratic Party. The outcome is far from clear, but bemoaning this battle is like decrying the rising of the sun. People are engaged, and the demand for change is real.

Supremacists came to Charlottesville because they’re afraid of change - so afraid, they’re willing to terrorize the rest of us to prevent it. Here's what we can do now to help dismantle racism in Virginia and beyond.

People’s organizations, armed with the peaceful power of the vote, can take back statehouses in Virginia and all across the country, reversing the agenda of helmeted cowards and their allies. Wouldn’t that be the sweetest revenge?

There are only two sides here: Right and wrong. Murderer and victim. Hatred and love. When it really matters, the president of the United States refuses to call terror by its name, or pick a side. But we can.

Betsy DeVos says she supports "great public schools," but her actions show her hypocrisy. She undermines public options, yet favors schools owned by her friends. What she really wants is to tilt the playing field toward private ownership.

Is the anti-Trump resistance evolving into a movement that produces leaders with a mandate to govern with a progressive, grassroots-based agenda? We are seeing evidence that the answer will be a resounding "yes."

It was a big day on Long Island. President Donald Trump was jetting in for a victory lap on health care and some “tough talk” about immigration. Easy, right? Sorry, Donald. Things didn’t work out quite the way you expected!

Posts tagged ‘Robert Rubin’

Let’s not be so harsh with our rich brethren. After all they are obeying all the laws they bought and paid for.

And what’s wrong with owning a Senate seat or two anyway. They paid for them; they own them. Simple.

Speaking of the Senate, Dick Durbin (D-IL) remarked of Wall Street banks, “They own the place.” No one ever contradicted his statement.

But here’s a new take on corruption in Follyland, DC.

A lobbyist claimed that Congress critters and the White House are engaging in extortion and black mail of Wall Street firms and corporations by forcing these unfortunate businesses to kick in the payola or else.

So the message from our political establishment is pay up or we pass legislation that will harm your business.

Now we all know that government in Follyland is upside down, inside out and backwards. But this lobby critter invented a whole new take on corruption in government. The briber is innocent. It’s the bribee whose at fault.

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Amazing Scientific Discovery.

Scientists at the Sardo Institute of Genetic Research have discovered a gene possessed by rich people that renders their immunity systems incapable of recognizing any notion of corruption from birth to death.

A depiction of the double helix, the molecular structure of DNA.

The gene produces a hormone that effects brain’s ability to implement conscience. And without conscience, the rich are peculiarly unable to recognize behavior patterns associated with corruption.

So for the rich, it’s not that they don’t give a fuck about everyone else. They are simply genetically incapable of caring about anyone but themselves.

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See No Evil.

Tribalist: Blind loyalty to a group or cause of like minded people.

For example, tribal Democrats are loyal to Bill Clinton even though the former president usurped the label of Democrat. Clinton, you’ll recall was one of the most economically conservative presidents in history. He executed a right wing agenda that it is still impacting the world economy – NAFTA and bank deregulation – and placed in dire jeopardy the nation’s entire middle class. For his efforts, he has been richly rewarded by the world’s 1%. He used the presidency as a stepping stone to enormous wealth – some estimates of his newly found riches number in the tens of millions of dollars.

A variation on the Here, See, Speak No Evil theme, adds Do No Evil.

Despite his chicanery – to say nothing of his zipper shenanigans – the man is simply adored by tribal Democrats who can see no evil.

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Heeeee’s Baaaaaaaack!!!

What’s the old saying, you can’t keep a bright, rich man down.

That goes double for Larry Summers. He’s both.

Yet it’s amazing how dumb so many brilliant people can be. And then be totally oblivious to obvious stupidity. But if you’re bright and rich, an MIT grad and a Harvard professor, what else or who else matters.

The Tragic Triumvirate.

Summers was an apostle of Robert Rubin, the deregulation deity who became Treasury Secretary under President Bill Clinton. Rubin is a man of enormous wealth who used his position in Treasury as a stepping stone to even greater wealth. So wealthy in fact that the substantial riches of Clinton and Summers together pale in comparison to the deity of deregulation.

But let’s not underestimate the destructive policies of Summers, who as head of Treasury in the waning years of the second Clinton administration, championed even more harmful bank deregulation. The Commodity Futures Modernization Act permitted banks to bundle mortgages into packages, a practice that nearly destroyed the so called “too big to fail” banks and the American economy as well and it was a Summers’ bullying advocacy of the legislation that buried opposition in the administration and eventually led to Clinton’s signing off on this atrocity.

By the way, and this fact isn’t widely known, but the CFMA led directly to the Enron implosion, the collapse and bankruptcy of the giant auditing firm Arthur Andersen and the loss of lifetime pensions and careers for thousands of ordinary workers.

So what does this boondoggle get for Summers. Well, untold riches for one thing. And then an appointment as President Barack Obama’s chief economic adviser.

Moreover, the former Treasury secretary is campaigning for the chairmanship of the Federal Reserve soon to be vacated by the retiring Ben Bernanke. Incredibly, he is said to be the frontrunner on Obama’s short list and the president’s preferred choice.

Abject failure certainly has its advantages in Follyland.

The president went so far as to order a staffer to anonymously leak Summers’ name as the White House choice.

That balloon, however, has apparently popped. The criticism and opposition to an appointment of this Harvard professor has been so widespread, that alas for Larry the fairytale may not come true.

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In related news, the president said the new Fed chairman should consider ordinary people.

Uh, don’t get too excited about that statement. For one thing, it’s good public relations. And for another, Jamie Dimon, he president’s favorite bankster, has veto power over any nominee.

I voted for Bill Clinton twice, the second time somewhat reluctantly because of his support for NAFTA. And while he may be a likeable fellow, his actions as president did great harm to the country.

Always liked the guy. And no one can say he wasn't faithful to his wife and many mistresses. Image via Wikipedia

He’s published another book, his third. I haven’t read it yet but reviews indicate that his latest effort focuses on the country’s economic problems.

Whatever his solutions may be, Bill Clinton can’t ignore his own contributions to the mess the economy is in today.

He appointed two of the worst secretaries of the Treasury in the country’s history – Robert Rubin and Larry Summers – both of whom were compulsive deregulationists.

He signed off on two of the worst pieces of legislation ever to befall the country: The Financial Services Modernization Act (also known by the names of its Republican sponsors, the notorious Phil Gramm and fellow Republican extremists in the House Jim Leach and Tom Bliley). And he signed into law the now infamous Commodity Futures Modernization Act. Taken together, these two laws led directly to the massive abuses by the financial industry and were a leading cause of the meltdown.

In addition, he foolishly reappointed Alan Greenspan, a Republican, to the Fed Chair at a time when a Democrat might have brought a more disciplined approach to Fed policy.

He, and his DLC companions, convulsed the Democratic party, turning it away from the common men and women who have supported it for decades and transforming into the corporate toady that it is today.

And last but not least there is the NAFTA disaster, a pact which he should have vetoed. Barring that action, he could have insisted on revisions to make the agreement more favorably disposed to the needs of working people.

For these blunders, Clinton must answer to history.

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The Nobella Prize Committee has just announced the nominees for its newest award: The Shit Eatingest Grin of the Decade.